On this date in 1812, Sacagawea—the legendary Lemhi Shoshone interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition—died at age 24. Her story is fascinating and somewhat tragic, and if you’ve only ever heard the movie-friendly version of it, it’s worth reading more—you can see example articles here, here, and here. Among the facts I was previously unaware of are that Sacagawea was married (nonconsensually) to a French fur trader, and had a son, at the time of the expedition (when she would have been only 16); all three were involved in the travels, although only the husband got paid. Geez.
